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The reason for the delay in construction given by the PFF was that the FIFA development officers were busy with their other commitments.– File Photo

KARACHI: Wednesday (Sept 7) is the last date for submission of tenders for FIFA Goal Project II planned to be constructed at Hawkesbay here.

The project has remained on hold since early 2009 when the Sindh Football Association (SFA) provided 10 acres of land in Block 13 A-1 of Hawkesbay’s Scheme 42 to the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) after fulfilling all FIFA requirements.

The reason for the delay in construction given by the PFF was that the FIFA development officers were busy with their other commitments.

But the tenders invited from all over the country will now be collected in Lahore on Wednesday to be sent to Sri Lanka for FIFA Development Officer for the Asian region Manilal Fernando to open before awarding the task of construction to the lowest bidder.

“We are glad that the project is back on track. It will be great to see some real progress taking place on the land reserved for this special project the football lovers of Lyari have been waiting for ages now,” said former SFA Treasurer and Secretary-General District Football Association West (Zone V) Rahim Bakhsh while speaking to Dawn on Monday.

The senior football enthusiast stated that they felt a bit frustrated during Ramazan when Manilal Fernando, who is also FIFA Executive Committee member now, wanted to personally visit the site but couldn’t due to city disturbances.

“But it has now been decided to send the tenders to him in Sri Lanka for them to be opened there,” he added.

Apart from having a football stadium, the Goal Project II will have an office block including the FIFA House, bungalows for officials, a football academy with a spacious hostel and several sporting facilities such as an indoor gymnasium with sophisticated training equipment and a swimming pool.

Meanwhile, SFA will hold its introductory congress meeting after the regional election at the new SFA president’s residence on Sept 12. “We will discuss what we plan to do regarding the development of football in Sindh during the moot.

“Later, I will take our suggestions to the PFF headquarters in Lahore to be presented in their Executive Board meeting on Sept 17,” said the newly-elected SFA President Syed Khadim Ali Shah.